Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) has defined a number of threats to the national stability and security, including COVID-19 and secessionist movement in Papua.

Speaking at a conference on June 15, BIN Spokesperson Wawan Hari Purwanto said that COVID-19 pandemic has threatened the safety of a larger community, worsening economic crisis, affecting healthcare and education facilities and increasing unemployment.

Meanwhile, secessionist activities in Papua are one of the factors leading to a risk of national disintegration, he said.

Purwanto also mentioned social network scams, especially those related to ethnic, religious and race issues. He underlined that the spreading of news related to sensitive issues on social networks will pose widespread impacts.

Cyber attack was also named as one of the national threats of Indonesia. According to Purwanto, Indonesian people’s knowledge of cybersecurity should be improved. Cyber attacks may hinder the digitalisation process of the economy and caused public pessimism about the industry 4.0 programme that has been optimised by the government.

Purwanto affirmed that BIN, as the frontline force of the national security system, will continue to work for the early detection and early prevention of national security threats./.
VNA